Bottle, thanks Fin! Chestnut, slightly amber. Funk, brett, herbal, tea, juicy fruity, tart. Fresh, surprisingly clean and light. A nice tart fruity sweetness, orange peel. I like.

On tap at Kaffee Bazaar, Markt Sq, Ypres, Thursday 9th October 2025 after a 917km drive from nr München yesterday and finished today. We walked the short walk from Urban Gardens Campsite. Pours hazy amber with a large off white head. The nose is huge brettiness, it's like an Orval sour combo' , Loz suggests next level Orval and I know what she means it's like a new style, anyway ratings are getting lazy, this is good.

‘Wild pale ale’, dry-hopped and refermented with Brettanomyces (an idea undoubtedly inspired by Orval) by Westkwartier, a new microbrewery focusing on mixed fermentation – interestingly, considering most of these countless new microbrewing initiatives in Belgium debut with a simple blonde or tripel. The brewery name refers to the region it is situated in, ‘Hilleveld’ is the local pronunciation of Geluveld, the village where the brewery is located. Off-white, thick and foamy, plaster-like lacing, thickly moussy, bit irregular but firm head on a misty amber-tinged orange blonde beer. Aroma of wet leather, damp autumn leaves and even ‘horseblanket’ so indeed clearly ‘Bretted’, dried orange peel, old biscuit, rusk, cranberries, fried tomato peel, persimmon, unripe apricot, dry hay. Sweetish-fruity, estery onset with sourish edge, hints of pear, persimmon, tomato, apricot and strawberry with a hint of gooseberry, medium carb with slick bready-biscuity, slightly toasty to even ‘non-sweet’ caramelly malt character, smooth, dried by Brettanomyces effects which bring their familiar retronasal funky aromas of wet leather, urine, old jute and haystack, working well with an earthy hop note and ongoing estery fruitiness. Some citric effects from dry-hopping appear as well but clearly the wild yeast triumphs over the hops; I was hoping for a somewhat more outspoken hop character, but as a wild ale and certainly considering it comes from such a young microbrewery, this works very well, remaining refreshing, elegant and fruity without losing its Bretty-funky character. Not unlike Rebelse Strop by Roman, but even more ‘wild’ and funky than that one. I must admit that I am quite impressed by this choice for a first beer by a starting brewery and with the other firstborn being an ‘oud bruin’, I think this Westkwartier is one to watch – it would not be the first time some small brewing operation deep in the West-Flemish countryside evolves into something ‘artistically’ influential and popular amongst beer connoisseurs…